"This move will be really good for us, honey. You'll see."

That's what my mom told me when she first announced we'd be moving to Ashland, Oregon. Not that I needed much convincing to begin with since, apart from my small group of friends, there isn't much about our soon-to-be-old home that I can honestly say I'll miss. Plus, I've always wanted to move to a small town like Ashland and, come next week, we're finally bringing that dream to life.

"Knock, knock!" I hear from outside my bedroom door. It's roughly 12:30 in the afternoon and, although it's delightfully sunny where I live, I've chosen to stay indoors. Music floods throughout the room from my laptop speakers, carrying the voice of Trevor McNevan along with it in the form of Thousand Foot Krutch's The End Is Where We Begin. The album of the same name is my absolute favourite, as my parents are painfully aware of at this point since I've listened to it on repeat so much.

"It's open," I call above the music, and in walks Chelsea Smithson. "Hey, Mom."

"Hey, there. Oh, wow, that's one cool-looking fairy. Very gothic," Mom comments, her eyes having fallen on the doll I'm in the middle of customizing. I've paused right in the middle of creating her wings, whose pattern resemble that of a monarch butterfly. Their colours, on the other hand, will be a black-to-periwinkle gradient once I've finished painting them. Blue and purple glitter will be the finishing touch, naturally followed up with a coat of matte varnish.

This is one of my absolute favourite hobbies. Usually, I like to customize Barbie dolls, though I'll occasionally do the same with Bratz. Making things like fairy wings, new outfits and little wigs is easily the aspect I like most, as well as the one I have the most proficiency in. Drawing faces, on the other hand, has never been my strong suit, especially ones meant to be realistic, so I have a lot more practice ahead of me there.

I hold the right wing, half-finished and trying to dry, up to the light so she can see the existing detail better. "Thanks, that's what I was going for. And I had a feeling you'd be a fan of the colour scheme since, you know, you like periwinkle so much."

Mom chuckles and gives me a warm smile, full of love and admiration. "You have no idea how proud of you I am, Lyric, you're so incredibly talented." She moves to sit on the edge of my bed. "So have you thought of a name for her yet?"

"Uh...no, to be honest," I say, "I kind of wanted to finish her look first. That way I can come up with a name that fits her."

"I suppose that makes sense. But just to let you know, lunch will be in fifteen minutes, so you should probably clean yourself up soon, especially if it's paint you're messing with."

"Alright then, thanks for letting me know." I set the wing on the desk in front of me next to its sister while Mom exits the room, presumably to finish cooking our meal. I don't bother to put my materials away since I'll likely be returning to this project later on, though I do close the paint bottles and rinse the brushes before going to wash my hands of the paint that stains them.

"Hey, kiddo," Dad greets me when I enter the kitchen a few minutes later, "Excited for the move?"

"You know she is. She can't stop talking about it," Mom responds for me. "Although she won't be as excited when I remind her it's her day to do the dishes."

"Aw, come on! I just did them yesterday," I protest.

"Yeah, that's because you put off your dishes from the night before. I still did my dinner ones, remember?" Dad reminds me as he begins to set the table.

"How come Mom's not in the rotation?"

"Number one, because of her work hours. Number two, because she's the one that does most of the cooking in this house. It's only fair you and I tackle the dishes, am I wrong?"

I give a defeated sigh. "No, you're right. I just hate doing them."

"So do a lot of people, but we still have to. You having chicken?"

"Yes, please," I cheer back up at the mention of Mom's cooking. Thankfully once the time comes for me to do the dishes, Dad agrees to help dry them and because he does, the process takes less time.

I soon find myself back in my room, and I have to admit that with most of my things being stored in boxes or large bags, entering it is a somewhat jarring experience now. I'm much more accustomed to the sight of black curtains over the windows, creepy-fairy-tale-inspired paintings on the walls, and the striking mix of gothic and celestial décor that I've collected over time.

Speaking of which, the thought of the unpacking journey that awaits me at the new house actually has me excited. I simply can't wait to get started on my new room, even if I don't know what it looks like yet. My friends think I'm weird for taking such pleasure in cleaning and organizing and such, but I honestly don't care.

Anyway, I'm back at my desk with a plan to resume working on those fairy wings from before, but my cell phone chooses the exact moment I dip a brush into a glob of paint to begin ringing. With a sigh, I set the brush in the cup of water meant for rinsing before hitting 'talk'. "Hello?"

It was Piper, one of my friends. "Hey, Lyric, we're all chilling at the park, you wanna join us? We wanna do a little get-together for you, seeing as you're leaving soon and all."

I can hear rock music playing in the background along with other voices talking and laughing, so I can only assume by 'we', she means the rest of our friend group. "Sure, sounds like fun. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Hell, yeah! See you soon, girlie."

"See ya."

Sure enough, when I get to the park- only two or three blocks from my apartment building - all three of my friends are there, the rock music from before still blaring as they sit at a picnic table positioned under a large tree. There's cake, but since it's covered in a layer of frosting, I can't tell what flavour it is.

Piper leaps from her seat when she sees me, running up to hug me. "Yo, there she is! We've been waiting for you, Lyric!"

I grin. "Hey, Piper."

It's then that I notice a small pile of presents sitting at the end of the table. "Aw, guys, you shouldn't have!"

"Well, suck it up, we wanted to," Piper tells me, steering me in the direction of the table, "and look – we even wrote a message on it!"

I look down at the cake to see what the message says, and what I see makes me smile widely.

We'll Miss You, Lyric

"Thanks so much, guys, you're the best," I tell them all, pulling Piper into another bear hug then doing the same to the other two, Devon and Leah.

"We're aware," grins Devon as he accepts the hug with enthusiasm. Then he stands up and grabs a paper plate along the knife sitting next to the cake. "Big piece, or...?"

"What kind is it?" I ask, taking a seat at the table.

"Vanilla. Would've been red velvet if the place hadn't been fresh out of mix, so sorry about that," Leah answers for him.

"Hey, no worries, we all know vanilla's one of my favourites, too. Yeah, Devon, I'll have a big piece."

"Same over here," adds Piper, "and while he's doing that, Lyric, you need to hurry up and get these presents open - I wanna see your reaction!"

I laugh. "Okay, okay!"

Opening their presents is enough to let me know just how well my friends know me by now, because every one of them is both meaningful and in perfect alignment with my interests. From Piper, I get a little decorative crystal ball with a transparent cat inside, which matches the one I get from Leah that has a crescent moon in it and the one from Devon containing a treble clef.

"As you can see, we all coordinated," says Devon, "we wanted to get you something to remember all of us by, but that also represented something big in your life."

I swear, I could cry right now. These three are so sweet! "Thanks, you guys, I love them. They're perfect."

"So, Lyric, do you know anything about your new place yet?" asks Devon, "Aside from it being in Ashland, I mean."

I shake my head. "Nah, not much, but I do know what it looks like, at least. It's pretty big, like it used to be one big house, but now it's separated into about three or four apartments. We're getting the biggest one."

"The biggest? Nice! I, for one, will be expecting pictures."

"Or she could just take us on a tour during a Skype call," Piper pointed out, already reaching for a second piece of cake. It's at that moment I remember my own sitting in front of me and promptly take a bite. It's delicious, I have to say, and thankfully the frosting isn't that sickly sweet, all-you-can-taste-is-sugar kind stores often resort to.

"Hey," Leah gets my attention next, "You've got to promise you'll keep in touch with us, okay? We really are going to miss you."

"I know. I'll miss you guys, too," I reply, "I promise I'll Skype as much as I can."

"Good."

We spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the park, eating as much of the cake as we can, and enjoying the music my friends have chosen. And I have to say, it's the best going-away party I could have ever asked for.